Connected
by SeaCatSD
Summary: The 4th Hokage’s seal does much more than just keep the Nine-tails chakra at bay. In order to ensure that the demon will one day follow Naruto to the grave their very souls had to be intertwined, and not even the Minato knew what that could mean. NaruxKyu
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: All your base are belong to Kishimoto  
**_Mature Content / AU_**  
**_Please check my bio and read my manifesto before flaming, thanks!_

**Introduction:** What if the 4th Hokage's seal did more than just keep the Nine-tails chakra at bay? In order to ensure that the demon would one day follow Naruto to the grave their very souls had to be intertwined, and not even the 4th Hokage knew what that could mean …

Connected

Prologue

* * *

The 4th Hokage stared in horror as vast currents of insidious red chakra swirled around above his head faster and faster, until they were drawn into a thrashing red vortex that literally screamed in anger as its tail touched down into the exact center of his containment seal, the ink on Naruto's stomach barely dry.

"No!" he screamed, and lurched forward only to catch himself. A battle of paternal instincts and logic raged in his mind as he watched his one and only child scream out in pain and terror. If he interfered now, it meant certain death for not only Naruto, but everyone else as well, _everyone_. Only four hours old, the tiny infant's pitiful cries tore at his heart, and tears of frustration flowed freely down his face.

He'd never truly understood until now, never known how powerful the bond of fatherhood would be, and how much it could possibly hurt to stand by and watch as his son suffered. He'd known this would happen, he'd tried to prepare himself, but that was a joke. The was no preparation for sacrificing your child.

Tiny arms and legs thrashed about wildly as the red twister drew further into the child's stomach, and he absorbed more and more of the raging demon. Trembling in fear and self loathing, Minato continued to watch, waiting for the moment it was over and he could rush in to touch his son once more. Suddenly Naruto started seizing, and his cries cut in and out as his frail body shook and clenched into unnatural positions while the seal flared a violent purple.

Minato started screaming, but he was drowned out by the angry roars of the monster. It shook him to his very core to realize that without a body or throat of any kind, he had to be hearing nothing more than the psychic emanations of anger and pain it was throwing off. Even so the volume was almost deafening, and if it was enough to bring him to his knees. And if it could so this to him than Naruto must be…

"Please stop! _PLEASE STOP … NARUTO!_"

Then the unthinkable happened, Naruto's intermittent cries became a full fledged scream as three points of blood appeared on each of his cheeks. Minato nearly choked as what looked like the tips of razor sharp claws poked out from Naruto's skin, and they proceeded to slide down his little face, neatly slicing open the fresh skin as they moved. Minato howled in pain at the sight of so much blood, and the crying child instinctively turned his head to the sound, giving his grieving father a perfect view of what had happened. Naruto's face was now freshly carved with what looked like … whiskers.

What was left of the spiraling chakra suddenly seemed to collapse under its own weight, and slammed down on the exhausted child. There was a crack, and what felt like an explosion that threw Minato to the ground. The last thing he remembered was another mind bending roar before the blackness consumed him.

He woke to the gentle crackling of a fire, he was confused for a moment, but then everything came slamming back in an instant. "What?! How long was I out? Naruto!"

Minato jumped up and ran over to his prone child, still laying on the table he used for the sealing ceremony. He cradled the tiny boy and reached out with what little chakra he had left, his heart nearly burst with relief as he sensed life. He hugged his son to his chest as hard as he dare, he didn't know how long he was out, it couldn't have been long, but he knew he didn't have much time left. So little time…

"Minato."

He turned slowly and tried to smile through the tears, "Sarutobi, he's … he's Ok, Sarutobi."

"It worked then?"

He nodded, "Yes, it worked … perfectly. The beast is permanently sealed now." He tried to stand up straight and walk over to his friend, but his legs failed him. The older man walked over briskly and grabbed Minato's arm to steady him. "Whoa," the blond swayed slightly, "I didn't realize how weak I am."

"Please, I can take the child for you -"

"No," Minato cut him off quickly. He pulled away instinctively but stopped, instead opting for gazing down at his helpless legacy. "Let me hold him, for just a little while longer," he whispered. His legs gave out just then, but Sarutobi was able to get an arm around him and guided the dying man down to the ground. He propped Minato up against the table he'd been standing next to and sat down next to him.

The 3rd Hokage regarded his successor with a mixture of pity, compassion, and shame. It shouldn't be him, he was young, he was strong, he was supposed to be the future. But his old body wasn't strong enough, he wouldn't have been able to control the incredible power of the beast, even with the help of the Death God.

"Sarutobi…"

He looked up at Minato with tears in his eyes, "Yes my boy?"

Minato turned his tired head and smiled that wonderful, carefree smile that only he possessed. "It's here, I can feel it. The Shinigami has come to take it's payment. I need you to take him now, I need you to take care of him. Tell them to honor him Sarutobi, tell them to honor his sacrifice," he whispered.

Shaking with grief, the old man took the offered bundle from Minato's arms, he didn't trust his own ability to speak and only nodded in response.

"Thank you Sarutobi. And please forgive me … my little … Naru … to."

Suddenly, the tiny bundle in his arms began to cry, and Sarutobi's face paled. The 4th Hokage was dead. Squeezing his eyes shut to chase away the pain, the 3rd stood up and willed his silent signal out into the night. Seconds later, he was surrounded by his shinobi.

"Is it over Hokage-sama?" one asked.

Sighing he nodded his head, "Yes, the demon has been defeated. But at the cost of the 4th Hokage's life." Gasps reverberated throughout the crowd, and several of the men began to weep openly.

Noticing the tiny bundle in his arms one of the bloodied jounin nearest to him took a step back. "Is that the child? Is that the demon child?" Sarutobi shot the man a hateful glare, but he could already see the other men reacting.

"That child is the demon?"

"It's weak!"

"We have to destroy it Hokage-sama!"

"Before it's too late!"

"_SILENCE!_" he bellowed. "The demon is trapped, and is no longer a threat to us, or anyone else."

"It killed the 4th!"

"We can't risk it!"

"Please Hokage-sama, I'll do it, give the child to me!"

The assembled crowd went silent and the men jumped back as an insane wave of killing intent washed over them. A few thought the demon might already be escaping and cowered in fear, but only a moment later they understood the truth, the terrible pressure was coming from the 3rd Hokage himself.

All his anguish, all his pain, coalesced into a single vein of righteous anger, and with a voice not heard in many years his words rang out for all of them to hear, "This child has made the ultimate sacrifice! It was the final wish of the 4th Hokage that he be honored for his unending burden. If any man or woman dares to deify the dying wish of our savior and harm a single hair on this innocent child's head, they will die by _my hand_!"

* * *

**Authors Notes: **And so it begins, what I hope is the beginning of a fine epic.

Mmmm, angry Sarutobi, not nearly enough fics with that in my opinion. Mine won't be too bad, but he won't be afraid of dishing it out either, I mean come on, he didn't make Hokage without being a bad ass now did he?

This story is mostly about the relationship between Naruto and the Kyuubi (and someone else…), but I'm still going to need something for them to do later on, like the wave mission or something. Thing is, I _really_ don't want to rehash canon, so I'm letting readers know up front if they have any killer ideas for different plots or bad guys to throw them at me, and maybe I'll work with that instead of that stale old stuff!

Let me know what you think (you know, begging for reviews and all), and enjoy!


	2. The Fox and the Orphanage

**Disclaimer: All your base are belong to Kishimoto  
**_Mature Content / AU_**  
**_Please check my bio and read my manifesto before flaming, thanks!_

Connected_  
_

Chapter 1 - The Fox and the Orphanage

* * *

_Six years later…_

He tried to run, but his legs felt like they were made of lead. It was close now, so close he felt like he could feel the monster's breath on the back of his neck.

"No, get away from me!"

"**I can smell your fear little one … I wonder what you'll taste like?" **

There was nowhere to go and nowhere he could hide, every door he tried was locked and every street he ran down was a dead end. Facing the wall at last he knew that he could go no farther and watched in horror as the shadow of the beast grew larger and larger until it completely blotted out his own.

It was this way every night, the same dream over and over again. The doors were always locked, the streets were always alleys, and fox always caught him in front of this wall. The little boy's heart sank, this was the end of the sequence. He had to turn around now, that was his part. Then the monster fox would devour him whole and wait for the next time, which would of course be the very next time he slept.

"**Turn around child …"**

Tears started streaming down his face and he turned around slowly like he always did, and he asked his same question. "Why won't you leave me alone?" he sobbed.

The fox's face contorted in anger, **"I'll never leave you alone, don't you understand!"** it roared. The beast reared its fiery head back and opened an impossible maw …

No, he didn't understand. Why did the fox do this to him? Didn't he hurt enough already? Why was he alone? Why did everyone in the world look at him with those eyes? The unfairness of it all washed over the young boy and the fear in his heart stumbled, and he could feel something else taking its place. What was it?

His tears came faster now, but for some reason they felt hot against his skin. His body still trembled, but was he afraid? And then he knew, if not consciously at least on a baser, more instinctual level. The fear in his heart was dying, because it was being eaten away by anger.

For the first time since he could remember, the dream changed.

The young blond pulled his head up and stared into the fox's eyes with a burning defiance. "_NO!_" he screamed at the top of lungs. The monster was so surprised that it halted in its final descent, starting down at its prey as though for the first time.

"I don't understand! No one will tell me! They only stare at me with those eyes … with eyes like yours."

"**You …"**

The child looked on in growing disbelief as fox stood still, studying him for some unknowable purpose.

"**Damn that man, it's already begun,"** it muttered quietly. The last thing Naruto saw were the beast's enormous jaws closing around him, just like they always did…

* * *

Naruto woke screaming from his nightmare, _again._ The other children trying their best to sleep in the oversized room moaned at the pain of their lost sleep.

"Shut up you idiot!"

"Somebody hit him!"

Somebody did. Still covered in sweat and shaking from his ordeal, he never saw the shoe flying through the dark before it hit him squarely in the eye. "Oww!"

A small cheer went up throughout the room before the lights suddenly flickered on and the orphanage's matron barged in, "What is all this racket?" Holding his rapidly forming shiner, Naruto looked around in panic and knew right away he was in big trouble.

She was a terrible woman, short, fat, and beady little eyes that made children with any sort of self preservation instincts cower in fear. Those that didn't soon learned their lesson, crossing the matron was a quick route to a beating and a night without dinner. None of the children even knew her name, simply _Matron,_ or _Ma'am_. But she did have one redeeming quality that people seemed to like, and that was her hate for Naruto.

Peering around the room full of children she spotted what she was looking for, "Damn you, you little monster, you woke everyone up again didn't you?!" She stormed past the other bunks in the room, grabbed him roughly by his shirt and dragged him out of his bed onto the floor.

Naruto struggled against her hold but it was little use. "I'm sorry I didn't mean too!" he protested. "It's not my fault, I had a nightmare!"

She smacked him hard across the face and watched in satisfaction as his head hit the floor. "That's because you're a foul little boy, and you deserve those nightmares you little brat!"

Naruto held his hands over his face, trying to fight away the tears as much to fend off any follow up slaps. He didn't understand, he tried to behave, he tried to be good _all the time_. But no matter what he did it seemed like he screwed up, and everyone was always so angry with him. He was sorry, he just didn't know what he was sorry for. "I – I'm sorry." He choked out.

He felt a rough hand grab his collar again, "I don't care what you think you are! You're a monster and a nuisance. I've put up with your evil long enough, from now on you're sleeping in the streets!" she screamed.

Knowing what was coming next, the young blond lunged for his bed. Virtually all his worldly possessions were tucked into an old backpack he had shoved under the covers near the foot of his bed and he couldn't leave without them.

"No you don't you little freak!" the woman grunted, and pulled back hard on the collar of his shirt. The force of the movement brought Naruto's shirt up hard against his throat and choked him hard enough to end any thought of forward momentum. "You're not staying, you're going outside!"

The tips of his fingers grazed the sheets, but the angry woman had just managed to overpower him enough to stop him from reaching the bed. Before he even hit the floor she started dragging him away and towards the other side of the room and the door to the outside. "Please! I -_ugh_ -just want my things, please let me get my things!" he choked, still trying to pull away from her iron clad grip. "I'll l-leave but please let me get my things!"

"If you want your trash you'll just have to go through the garbage," she sneered. "That's where you belong anyway."

She continued to drag the struggling child past the rows of other bunks, yelling all the while about his evil and for the other's to lay down and mind their business. But to his surprise the other children didn't listen to her at all, in fact most of them stood straight up in their beds and started cheering!

'_Why are they? They never played with me but why would they … hate me like this?_' Unable to understand any of what was happening, he ended his struggling and his mind just started to shut down. It didn't make any sense, he was being tossed out into the streets for having a bad dream! The adults all hated him, the other kids all hated him, everyone hated him. Even his dreams tortured him, what did he do?

Nearing the end of the room, he numbly noted that he was being dragged past the girls bunkroom. For some reason, he looked up at them. He didn't know why, he knew they'd be just like the boys … and they were. Two of the them were even singing some kind of chant but he couldn't hear it, everything was just a dull roar to his ears. He turned his eyes back down to regard the dirty, splintered floor he was being dragged across, it was the last time he was ever going to see it. He might have hated this place and the people too, but it was still his home for the last six years, at least it was …

Something caught his eye, an instinct urging him to respond to whatever it was beckoning his peripheral vision. Crystal blue eyes meet honey brown, and for just a moment time stood still.

Nearly every eye in the orphanage was on him right now, but those eyes stood out like a beacon because of what they held. There was no hate, no joy, not even apathy.

She was crying.

'_Tears?' But why? Did they do something to her too?'_ Unfortunately he didn't have any more time to wonder because the matron had reached the front door. For a final moment they held each other's gaze, and then in a flash she took off running out of the girls room and down the hall. That was the last thing he saw before he was thrown out of the place that he had called home for his entire life, and out into the rain.

He hit the mud face first, and picked himself up slowly, looking back at the orphanage and the hateful woman who ran it.

"Don't you ever come back you monster!" she yelled, and with that slammed the door in his face.

It was still the very early in the morning, and when the door closed the last bit of light went with it. Sitting there in the dark covered in muck, Naruto started sobbing. He was only six and now he was alone, homeless, and he'd just lost everything he ever owned. Not knowing what else to do, the little boy cried his heart out. He called out for his mother though he'd never known her, then he cried for the old man. He didn't really know who the old man was, but he came around from time to time and was the only human being who nice to him. Finally, he begged Kami himself for help, sobbing a broken prayer that he be forgiven for what it was he'd done.

After he finished, he choked out his last sobs and looked around, his young mind gleaming with a spark of hope. Surely someone had heard him, if not someone who would help him then Kami at least. Someone would come. They had to, they couldn't leave him alone. He didn't have anywhere to go, he didn't even know what to do, he was only a child.

Someone would come.

The seconds passed and slowly stretched into minutes. The minutes passed and even more slowly stretched into hours. Soon the light of morning began peaking over the mountain tops, and Naruto still hadn't moved from his puddle of cold mud.

"Damn demon…" a voice behind him muttered.

Naruto twisted around to the source and saw a villager walking past, apparently going about his morning. That's when he noticed there were others, it was morning finally and the village was waking up. There weren't many people out but it wouldn't stay that way for long, and everyone that had seen him so far was giving him those same looks, those hateful looks. Understanding came crashing down on the child like a titalwave.

He hadn't been forgiven.

No one was coming.

He was alone.

He thought about crying again but found he couldn't work up the tears. It just wasn't any use. And he needed to hide, he needed to hide from them. Picking himself up from the freezing mud he noticed for the first time just how cold he was and found his scrawny legs didn't want to move properly.

Naruto limped around to the side of the orphanage, and into the shadowed alley where the trash was. He didn't particularly like the idea of hiding here but he knew it was better than being in the street by himself. Even he knew what would happen if the wrong people found him wandering around by himself. Most would only call him names or shoo him away, but some of them … well, it was best to avoid adults as much as possible.

He found some boxes next to the trash bins in the alley and hid inside those, hopefully the matron would just throw his things away like she promised and he could grab them before going. He had no idea what he would do after that, but it would just have to wait.

Hours later he was still wet, cold, and now very hungry, but finally he heard someone throwing out the trash. He waited until he was sure they were gone and then jumped into the large metal bin, digging through the bags and assorted garbage. As time went by he grew more and more frantic, he couldn't find his pack and he'd torn open nearly every bag in the dumpster. Realizing it wasn't there he slammed his fist into the side and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, damn her! Of course she lied, they all -

"Hey…" a little voice whispered.

Naruto froze, he was still inside the trash bin and couldn't see out, but whoever was out there obviously already knew where he was so he decided to take a chance and slowly poked his head out. When he did, he was more than a little surprised to see the girl from the night before then one with the big brown eyes. "What do you want?" he asked suspiciously.

She looked him straight in the eyes without blinking, "I got your stuff."

Naruto lit up in surprise and jumped out of the bin with his hands out. "Give it here!"

She frowned at his rudeness but understood. The bag she held in her hands was all he had left in the whole world, she offered the pack up and he grabbed it from her quickly. A little too quickly from the way she jumped back he realized, but all he really cared about was that he had his things back. He opened the sack and rummaged through it, two changes of hand me down clothes, an old pair of sandals, a cup of instant ramen, a spoon, seven ryo, and the only thing he really cared about; his necklace.

Sighing in relief the young blond looked up at his savoir and grinned. She smiled back and for the first time he took a good look at her. Her straight brown hair was shoulder length, and she had matching brown eyes, a beautiful honey brown. Her clothes were much better than his though they were still the same old rags most orphans wore, but when he noticed her cheek he gave a start.

"What happened?" The little girls pretty face was marred by an angry black and blue bruise.

She put a self-conscious hand up to cover the black and blue flesh but simply shrugged. "Nothing."

Naruto frowned, he didn't remember her having that the night before. But then again he wasn't exactly in a position to be noticing details while being dragged out by the scruff of his neck either. They both just stood there in silence for a few moments before Naruto finally broke the stalemate, "Thanks for getting my stuff."

She shrugged again, it seemed to be her thing. "No problem."

Nodding, Naruto decided there was nothing else to say, and walked past her to exit the alley and find someplace he could try to eat his cup of ramen.

"Hey," she called out to him.

He turned around, "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for the way the old hag treated you, you seem nice to me," she shrugged.

He stared at her for a long time, his endless blue eyes piercing straight thru her, and again she never once looked away. "Why are you being nice to me?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess … I just didn't like seeing you cry or something."

Naruto thought about that, and then he thought about his dream and what he learned. The girl couldn't help but notice something change in his eyes. "Well don't worry about it, cuz I'm never gonna to cry again," he stated flatly. He ran away so quickly that he missed the look of shock on her face.

She ran to the end of the alley and watched him dart away, she never even got his name.

"Good luck … blondie," She whispered.

* * *

Sarutobi gave another puff on his pipe and he finished the last of his paperwork. Standing up and stretching he found his old bones creaking in complaint. "Maybe I should create a new vice Hokage position and off load all of this damn paperwork to him," he announced to no one in particular.

He turned around and looked out the window over his beloved village, taking in the bustling activity below. But something seemed off to him, something was missing. He chewed on the pipe in concentration when it hit him, "Naruto! I haven't been by to see him in some time. I should probably take some time for a visit."

Tidying up a bit more he walked out of his office and told his secretary that he was taking the rest of the day off, she started to protest knowing his schedule but he silenced her with a raised hand. "The village will still be here tomorrow," he said sagely. One of the perks of age and rank he had learned, was the ability to say things he read on the back of fortune cookie wrappers and have people immediately accept as wisdom incarnate.

She smiled politely and nodded, there was no use once he started in with the old man proverbs. '_Wait, haven't I read that before somewhere?_'

With that the 3rd Hokage set out to check up on his favorite orphan.

* * *

"You _WHAT_?!"

The woman immediately knew she was in trouble, she knew the Hokage seemed to show the demon child favor for some reason but she certainly didn't think he'd be this upset! "B - but Hokage-sama! That child is a menace, h-he was corrupting the other c-children!"

Faster than she could see a hand snaked out of nowhere and slapped her across the face hard enough to knock her down. "How dare you, he's only six years old!" he yelled.

"But he's a demon!" she screamed.

Instantly she felt his almost unbelievably strong hands around her neck, and she found that she could barely breath. It was easy for civilians to forget just how strong the shinobi of this village truly were, especially a smiling old man like the Hokage. He couldn't possibly be dangerous could he? He was more like everyone's favorite grandfather.

It was a mistake she prayed she might live to learn from. She tried to turn her head but couldn't, and had to settle for looking up at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"You have broken the law my lady," he growled. "Pray I find the child unharmed, or you will share his fate."

She didn't respond, she couldn't, but he grunted in satisfaction as he watched her face pale. He let go of her and stepped back. "Now where did the boy go?"

The frightened woman clutched her aching throat and stared up in horror, "I - I don't know, Hokage-sama. I haven't seen him since a few nights ago."

"How many?" he snarled.

"I don't know!" she blurted out.

"How could you not know?"

"I - I …" she choked out.

"You what?"

"I don't know …" she whispered, looking at the floor.

Sarutobi spun around in disgust and stormed out of the front door before making a quick hand signal. Four ANBU appeared in front of him instantly. "You four, you are to find an abandoned child immediately, he's six years old, he has blond hair, blue eyes, and his name is Naruto Uzumaki."

ANBU were highly trained ninja, and they were experts at hiding any and all emotions, but the 3rd picked up on the almost imperceptible movement when he spoke the boy's name. He knew in an instant he had yet another problem. "I understand that you may have certain … preconceptions about this child. But you will put those thoughts aside and follow my orders or you will answer to Ibiki, do you understand?"

He could see from the instant tension that they did, he hated to work this way, fear and respect were not the same thing. But it seemed that when it came to Naruto fear was the only thing that was going to work for now.

Of the four, the man to his left wore a mask painted to look like a dog. "Hokage-sama, who will act as your guard if we leave?" he asked.

"I'll be fine in my own village Cain, I am the Hokage after all. I can take care of myself. But this child cannot. I don't know where he is or how long he's been gone, but I expect you to find him and bring him to me in one piece. Do you have any questions?"

"Do you know of any locations where the boy might frequent?" Cain asked. Sarutobi regarded the man, the captain of his personal guard now for the past six months. He had high hopes for this one, and of course he would be the only one to show interest in finding the boy.

"The boy has the appetite of a small horse, keep your eyes on any eateries, especially smaller out of the way places he might be able get scraps from."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," the Cain replied. "And do you at least have an estimate as to how long he's been gone? It might help us estimate how far he's gotten."

"Unfortunately no, I -"

"Excuse me …"

Sarutobi felt a lite tug on his robe and looked down to find a little girl staring up at him with big honey brown eyes. "Little one I'm sorry, but I'm very busy right now and I -"

"You're looking for blondie, aren't you?" she asked. "I know when he left."

The 3rd's eyes opened wide and he knelt down immediately to get on her level. "Yes we are looking for him little one, it would help us greatly to know when he left, can you tell me?"

She nodded, "He left three weeks ago, when madam threw him out in the rain. I saw him the next morning, but that was the last time."

Sarutobi's face darken considerably, he stood up and turned back to his men, "You heard her, he could be anywhere by now, search the entire village if you have to. Find him!" In a flash, they were gone. '_Three weeks! He could be anywhere by now if he's alive at all. And that bitch! She's been accepting her weekly stipends for caring for Naruto since she threw him out, perhaps I will take her head …"_

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sounds of taunting children, and was amazed to find three boys chanting something at the little girl standing right next to him. Didn't these kids have any respect or sense? Not many people in the village, even the children, were dumb enough to mess with the person standing next to the Hokage. But when one of the little cretins actually had the nerve to pick up a rock and hurl it at her he'd had enough.

Obviously this woman was totally incompetent to be raising the next generation of Konoha's citizenry. He was about to reach over the young girl and snatch the rock out of the air when he realized that her hand was already in position. Before he could think better of his actions, his ninja side took over and he pulled his hand back, he wanted to see what this little girl would do. Later he realized how reckless he was letting a little girl, probably no more than six years old with no training at all defend herself when the Hokage of people was standing right next to her. But many things in life were a gamble, and this was no different.

But sure enough she caught the rock and returned it in one fluid motion, and caught her assailant straight in between the eyes. The older boy howled and fell down.

Sarutobi couldn't believe it, gamble indeed! He couldn't ever remember seeing such grace in an untrained youth before. Certainly many children her age belonging to shinobi clans would have been able to replicate the feat, but just as many could not. And this little girl was an orphan!

Considering that she just helped Naruto he instantly felt a special connection to her, _and_ this little girl was special in more than one way. He had to do something for her, and that little display gave him the perfect idea…

"Excuse me little one?" he asked.

She spun around with a guilty look on her face, "I'm sorry, I -"

"Bah!" he said, waving his hand. "I thought you did fine, a girl's got to protect herself now doesn't she?" he asked with a gentle smile.

Blushing slightly, she shrugged and looked down at the ground. He knelt down once more and put his hand on her shoulder, "So, what might your name be?"

* * *

Ayame finished preparing her order and delivered the steaming bowl to a waiting customer, the man gave a hearty thanks and dug into his meal. Nodding she walked back over to her station and looked down at the extra bowl her father had prepared beyond the order.

"Oh father? It seems you made too much for that last order." She called over her shoulder.

Her father Teuchi smiled, "Well than I guess you know what to do with it then," he responded cryptically.

She smiled and took the bowl into the back, then turned to her right and slowly opened up the back door into the alley. Peeking her head out she didn't see or hear anything. She walked over to some crates that were nice and high off of the ground and placed the steaming bowl there along with a clean pair of chopsticks. "Oh well," she said a little too loudly for normal conversation. "I hate to just throw away good ramen but it looks like we made too much and I'll just have to leave it here in the alley."

With that she walked back over to the door and closed it with a bit of a slam. Thirty seconds later a small, dirty hand reached up from behind the crate and snatched the bowl and the chopsticks. The sounds of slurping and an occasional smack filled the otherwise deserted alley.

Unbeknownst to the hidden diner, a pair of concerned eyes watched the entire thing. Ayame found that by slamming the door just right, it would pop back open just enough to leave a crack for her to peer through and observe the poor child she and her father discovered back there two weeks prior.

Teuchi nearly had a heart attack the first time, as he surprised the dirty little kid dumpster diving when he was putting out the trash. Once they realized he must be homeless her father had contacted the authorities about an abandoned child, but as soon as someone showed up and finally got a look, they'd claim they never saw a thing and never returned.

He knew why of course, the poor blond was the one, the hated container. And the rumors about the monster living among them is what nearly gave Tuechi the heart attack in the first place. Having a demon launch out of your trash at you is more than a little disconcerting. But he only had to take one look at the child's horrible condition, dirty, malnourished, and eyes so empty it broke his heart, that he knew this was no demon. This was a child, and a child to pitied at that.

He knew he couldn't tell Ayame about his status, and for that he was actually glad. Instead he told her that the child had come from a dishonored family, and hoped that would be enough to satisfy her natural curiosity. After all, even the unwanted and dishonored were given leniency as children.

So they decided to try and help him themselves, but even though he would take any food they would leave out, he'd never let them get anywhere near him. Ayame was only ten, and so she was always the one to walk out into the alley in the hopes he might trust someone closer to his own age, but so far they hadn't had any luck. Ayame and her father didn't know what must have happened to the child to make him so distrustful of others, but they knew it must have been terrible.

She blinked in surprise when she realized that the bowl, now empty, was placed back onto the crate. How did he do that? She opened the door and leaned out into the alley again, "Little boy?"

Sighing at the lack of response, she walked over and looked behind the crate to find nothing at all. Where the child learned to hide she had no idea, but he was good. "I won't hurt you, you know," she called out hoping he was still around to hear. "Maybe tomorrow then…"

She walked back into the shop and went back to her prep station, her father gave her a questioning look but she just shook her head. With a sigh and a frown he went back to his next batch.

* * *

Cain leapt from rooftop to rooftop heading towards one of the many ramen or dango shops he knew were littered around the village. He was alone of course, his teammates had said that they could cover more ground if they split up which made sense, but he knew that wasn't the situation.

They didn't have any desire whatsoever to find the child. He didn't have any doubt that they'd follow instructions, especially after that not too subtle threat the 3rd had given them. But the child would have to practically trip over one of them for them to notice.

They'd given some sideways looks after he'd shown interest in finding the boy as well, but they probably just thought he was being a kiss ass. They'd never know who the boy really was, or why Cain himself truly did want to help him, and that suited him just fine. The less others knew the better. The only question was whether the 3rd knew why, although knowing the old man he probably did.

When he arrived at the next stand, a ramen stand named Ichiraku's, he was surprised to find a young girl standing in the alley holding a bowl of ramen and talking to herself.

"… looks like we made too much and I'll just have to leave it here in the alley." He heard her say.

He wanted to jump down and investigate the stand and its surroundings so he could keep moving, but his instincts told him to hold up and observe this rather curious scene. The girl put the bowl down and returned to the restaurant, but oddly enough she slammed the door and then stayed right behind it, for what he had no idea.

But his question was soon answered as a tiny hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched the food from its perch. Behind his mask, Cain's one visible eye opened wide, he never sensed another presence in the alley at all, and he was searching! Civilians didn't have much of a chakra signature that was for sure, but like all living things they did have one, and what's more they didn't know how to conceal it. How the child hiding behind that crate was managing to stay concealed from him he didn't have a clue.

But if he had to bet, he'd bet that was the kid he was looking for. "Naruto …"

The little hand soon returned the empty bowl to the crate and the girl reentered the alley a moment later. It was a dead end type of alley and he didn't see anyone leave so he remained in his position to observe for a moment longer, once she'd gone he leapt down and walked into the alley. For a moment he wished he could remove his mask, it had to be incredibly intimidating to a young child but the ANBU code was strict.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" he asked the alley. "Please come out, I've been ordered to bring you before the Hokage." He didn't really expect an answer and wasn't surprised.

"Naruto, I promise I won't hurt you, I'll protect you with my life if need be, and the Hokage won't hurt you either, please come out." When silence answered him again he sighed, he didn't want to scare the little guy but it looked like he wouldn't have a choice.

"OK Naruto, I'm sorry you don't trust me, but I'm going to have to come and get you now. But I promise that I still won't hurt you." With that he formed a quick shadow clone to cover the exit, he was sure it wouldn't be necessary but it was almost a reflex. ANBU training did that to a person. Cain walked over to the crate and looked behind it but found only pavement.

"So inside the crate huh?" Crouching down, he pulled off one side of the pine box and was surprised to find it empty. Cain found himself giving an appreciative whistle. "Wow kid, you're good."

There were only two other crates in the alley and the trash dumpster, so he walked over to the other crates and checked them out as well only to come up empty handed again.

'_The only place left is the dumpster. How the hell did he manage to make it across the empty space in between the crates and the dumpster without me noticing?'_ Kakashi flung open the lid and was shocked to find it nearly empty. "What the hell?" he said aloud. His clone stepped in his direction on hearing that and he shot the good looking fellow a questioning glance, not that he could see it behind the mask.

"Did he slip past you?" Cain asked hisclone.

"No, he's still in there," the clone insisted.

"Uh, I'm afraid not …" he admitted sheepishly.

"You're kidding me."

"Oh shut up and help me double check."

* * *

The 3rd Hokage paced nervously in his office, it was big village, but how could one child hide from four of his best ANBU? Well Ok, that was probably a load of crap. Cain was probably the only one who gave a damn and was following orders with any intention. So now the kid was hiding from say, one and a half ANBU if the other three were doing what he figured they were.

But at least he had already taken care of the orphanage problem, that disgusting excuse for a woman was officially removed thirty minutes after he left and the new temporary replacement was going to go through some serious vetting before becoming permanent.

And of course the highlight of his day thus far had been a little girl's smile.

But now he was waiting, waiting for the child he was most concerned about. He felt like such a failure, how on earth did he ever let it come to this? He'd started out threatening his own men's lives the day the child was born, and that didn't work. He'd tried speaking with groups of his most trusted shinobi and friends who should have known better, and that didn't work. Finally he'd just tried to keep the child out of the village's view and thus out of their minds. He had hoped that in time, they'd forget. And now that had obviously failed as well.

He couldn't even trust but a handful of his own ANBU to guard the child, and the village council had long ago managed to block his attempts to find a suitable adoptive family.

But at least one of his prayers were answered by a plume of smoke, followed by a ANBU in a dog mask, a small nin dog, and a struggling little boy.

"Naruto!" he gasped.

The child in question stopped struggling and looked at him with distrust, "Old man?"

He couldn't believe the boy's condition, he looked just pitiful. The poor child looked like he'd been rolling in garbage for the last three weeks, and he smelled like it too. He tried to ignore the stab in his heart when his conscious told him that the boy probably _had_ been living in garbage for that time. "Naruto, I've been so worried about you, are you Ok?"

"He looks malnourished, and is in bad need of a bath Hokage-sama, but other than that he appears to be fine," Cain answered for the boy. He put the blonde down and stepped back, allowing the Hokage to approach.

When he got close, Naruto flinched. A look of great sadness passed over his face and Sarutobi stopped. "Naruto, it hasn't been that long, don't you remember me?"

"Yeah, I remember you. I just don't like to be touched." He responded flatly.

A little piece of Sarutobi died right there. '_What have I let them do to you Naruto?_' He cleared his throat a little bit so he wouldn't get too choked up, "Naruto, I'm so sorry I didn't keep a better watch on you. This was all my fault, but I promise it will never happen again. I've already replaced the Matron of the orphanage, and I'll make sure you're checked up on every day if I have to -"

"I'm not going back there!" Naruto shouted. He backed up immediately until the wall stopped his progress. A look of fear and hate was evident in his wide blue eyes. "They hate me, they all hate me, even the other kids. I'm better off by myself…"

"Naruto …"

"No." the child stated flatly. "I'll run away, I'll run away so far no one will ever find me again. I just want to be by myself."

Cain nodded in agreement, "It's true sir, when this kid doesn't want to be found, he's like a ghost. I actually lost him in an alley with only one exit, I still don't know how he got by me. I had to use Pakkun here to track him down. When he gets a bit older, we might be looking at one heck of an infiltrator."

Sarutobi sighed, "I see." Actually he didn't, how the hell a five year old ditched Cain like a rookie gennin was something he would ask about later after the boy was gone. But for now he had other issues. "Well then, if you insist on being alone it appears I have no choice but to accommodate you. I'll find you an apartment, and setup a weekly allowance to allow you to take care of yourself."

He watched as Naruto lit up with glee for the first time since entering the room. "Really? I don't have to go back?"

"But know that I will be checking up on you from time to time. I'll also be sending over someone I trust to teach you the things you'll need to know to live alone. It's almost unprecedented for someone to live alone at the age of six, but your situation is just as, unprecedented. And I'll have an extra key so I can let myself in, those are the rules, got it?" he asked with an air of sternness that comes from years of being a father and a Hokage.

"I got it old man," Naruto replied grinning from ear to ear. He was finally going to have someplace to go where people wouldn't bother him! He could stay warm, dry, and there wouldn't be anyone to yell at him. It sounded like the greatest thing Naruto had ever heard.

"But wait, what's an infil .. uh .. trater?

The 3rd smirked, this day might end up better than he had hoped. Finally putting the child somewhere he wouldn't be harassed on a daily basis even if he would be lonely, and to plant a certain seed in his young mind. "Ah, that's a kind of specialized ninja you see, it seems you have quite the knack for hiding and moving without being seen eh?" he asked with a knowing glint in his eye.

Naruto's eyes got impossibly big, "A ninja? Me? Do you really think so dog man?" he asked Cain.

"Uh, yeah kid, sure." Kakashi replied. Fortunately for him, he had two masks on to hide his embarrassment. Not only were five year olds dodging him, but '_DogMan_'?

Sarutobi chuckled, "Very well then, I'll make arrangements for an apartment for you right this very minute. You stay here and wait, it shouldn't take long. Oh, and by the way," he whispered, leaning in close, "There might be some snack food and chocolates in the lower left drawer of my desk, underneath the big red book."

Naruto nearly jumped straight over the older man and went straight for the promised food.

"Come with me Cain," Sarutobi said, motioning toward the door. They stepped outside the room and the older man immediately put a hand out to stop the younger one.

"Hokage-sama?" Cain asked.

"He lost you in a dead end alley?"

Cain chuckled nervously.

* * *

**Authors Notes:** I cannot begin to explain to you how long I've agonized over releasing this, I've got no less than 5 different versions lying around, some a little different, some almost completely. This thing is clocking in at 7,700 or so words, but I've probably written 20K, seriously, I think I'm insane. That said, contact me if you have an interest in BETA reading for me on any story, maybe I just need some help. I'm not looking for someone to proof my grammar or anything, just give me their impression of the story and what-not.

And no, I'm not telling you who the girl is yet, it's a surprise! Although the sneakiest of you have already guessed …


	3. The Ghost the ANBU made

**Disclaimer: All your base are belong to Kishimoto  
**_Mature Content / AU_**  
**_Please check my bio and read my manifesto before flaming, thanks!_

Connected

Chapter 2 - The Ghost the ANBU made

* * *

_Grumble…_

Naruto moaned at the morning light shining most unwelcomely in his face and buried himself underneath the comforter. Now, if only the damn alarm would shut the hell up.

_Grumble…_

"Damn it, you're not gonna stop are you?"

_Grumble, grumble …_

"Ok I get it!" He cried out. Naruto tossed the tattered covers onto his floor and grimaced at the brightness of his room. He didn't have a window shade in this room since the old one fell apart, and the towel he tried stapling up didn't help either since the plaster was so old it wouldn't hold the tiny metal fasteners. He made a mental note to figure something out, the unforgiving natural light made it way too easy to see what a rundown dump he lived in.

Standing up and blinking a few times Naruto peeked out the window and tried to estimate the time, it looked about noon from his reckoning.

_Grumble…_

"Aw Jeeez," he sighed, looking down at his stomach. "I need get down to Ichiraku's and turn this thing off."

The young blond tumbled off to the bathroom to go to relieve himself and brush his teeth. Then he could get started on his next exciting day of dodging angry villagers, digging through the garbage of the affluent (it really was amazing what some people threw away), and looking for his next meal. It was truly an exciting life.

Naruto paused when entered the bathroom to regard himself in the mirror. His wild blond hair was a lost cause and it always would be. Thick spikes shooting out in every direction that simply defied control. Honestly it was so thick it felt more like fur to him. He never bothered combing it as it was simply no use. Then there were is legendary whisker marks, three on each cheek and coal black, about as thick as a strong pencil line. And finally his eyes, the brightest blue he'd ever seen.

There was no one else in all of Konoha that looked quite like him. This was part of his curse. The villagers hated him desperately, and hiding was impossible when you stood out like a sore thumb. This was also evidence of lineage, or lack of it. His final proof that he was alone, and he had no family.

His final defining characteristic most never noticed that he was aware of, but some did. The ever present dark circles underneath his eyes. Insomniac. That was the word the old man had given him. He was an eight year old insomniac. From what he gathered that wasn't supposed to happen until you were older. But to this day the fox still hunted his dreams every night, and sleep didn't come often or easily.

Three minutes later, one for the relief and two for the teeth (always take care of your teeth!), he tumbled out of the bathroom and made his way over to the closet to grab an orange jumpsuit. Every human being living in the village that would actually talk to him had shared the same distinct, yet apologetic opinion upon first seeing his wardrobe of choice.

The jumpsuits were hideous.

It was actually a test of sorts, the worse the person seemed to feel when they told him how bad he looked the more they probably liked him. In all honestly even he had to agree, but then again most people weren't they raised as orphans who had nothing and learned the hard way how to treasure what little they did have.

So one day when a young Naruto was wandering through an alley and spied an employee from a ninja surplus store throwing away boxes of what looked like brand new _something's_, he couldn't help but investigate. Imagine his shock when he found the boxes filled with brand spanking new utility jumpsuits!

And they were just throwing them away?! Most of them were still sealed in the plastic from the factory, it was the worst sort of wastefulness he could imagine.

A quick inspection showed they were made from a durable looking material, had lots of pockets and hidden compartments, and overall seemed to be of the highest quality. They also just happened to be blindingly _**orange**_. Though Naruto would never know it, there was a typo on a custom order that the owner couldn't return, and after trying like mad to sell the things he gave up and decided to just throw them all out. He couldn't even give them away in a promotion.

Naruto made three trips to make sure he got them all.

Hideous or not it was the coup of the century in his mind, he not only had free cloths but with all the different sizes he had free cloths for the next several years! A big deal for a kid who not only had very little money but couldn't even step foot inside a normal clothing shop anyway.

When he'd shown up at his first monthly meeting with the old man he thought the geezer was going choke. He knew it looked a little funny, but truth be told the color had sort of grown on him after a while. Besides, the entire ordeal gave him a great leg up on surviving life in a village that seemed to hate him just for existing, it taught him the true value of _scavenging_.

He finished tugging on his screaming loud clothing, grabbed his goggles and headed out the door. He paused at the threshold to glance back at his tiny apartment, it was a wreck, even by his standards. There were dirty cloths hanging from every available surface, garbage consisting mostly of ramen take-out containers littered the floor, and the entire kitchen counter was taken up by stacks of dirty dishes. Sadly half of those were paper plates. "Maybe I'll clean it up tomorrow," he muttered. "Plenty of free time tomorrow."

He slipped outside and closed the door without making a sound.

* * *

Sarutobi strode down the street and nodded at the people as they bowed and waved at him while he passed by. The village was bustling with activity this afternoon and he loved seeing the people like this, it was just so full of life! He laughed as he watched a group of children playing some unfathomable game that seemed to revolve around a ball and three circles they'd drawn in the dirt. The circles seemed like they were '_safe_' zones but the object of the game was to transport the ball from one circle to another without being captured. Every time a point was scored they all screamed in triumph or defeat.

Grinning he continued on, he supposed being a sentimental old fool was simply an occupational hazard of old age. To survive this long as a trained killing machine you either had to embrace your humanity and find someone you loved enough to protect, or simply become an emotionless sociopath. Sadly that reminded him of most of his peers.

But perhaps today he could put a dent in the ranks of emotionless shinobi drones, because in his hand he carried something he'd been thinking about for eight long years. The acceptance letter for one Naruto Uzumaki to attend the ninja academy of Konohagakure no Sato. The child had been dealt a raw deal, that much no one could deny.

Most of the village treated him lower than dirt in spite of the example he himself tried to set. He'd visited the poor thing in the hospital more times than he cared to remember from all the times his own ANBU ignored their duty and allowed some grieving or angry villager beat him within an inch of his life. And he knew how lonely the blond had become, it was as plain as the nose on his face whenever he visited the youngster.

But despite it all whenever he saw the child he could see his father shining through like a beacon of light in the those deep blue eyes, and he knew, he really _knew_, that this child was special beyond being some vessel. And he was going to find out exactly how special if it killed him.

Now, if he could only find the pint sized stealth master. Oh yes, he knew all about the boy's uncanny ability to hide and evade detection. The first time he heard about it was from Kakashi himself back before the eternally masked nin had retired from the ANBU corps as head of his own security team. After that he'd done some surreptitious investigations of his own and discovered that indeed the child did have an almost unnatural talent for evasion. He regularly ditched even his best ANBU when they were sent to keep tabs on the boy, not always mind you, but enough to raise more than a few eyebrows.

Interestingly enough this very ability had become something of a legend among the mysterious elites, and tracking Naruto when he didn't want to be seen had actually become something of a rite of passage for the black ops these days. Sarutobi had become understandably concerned when Kakashi first informed him of the phenomenon. The ANBU were a notoriously high strung lot and while he wanted them to take an honest interest in guarding Naruto he didn't want any of them viewing the child as some sort of glorified target.

But Kakashi assured him it was a good thing and true to the man's prediction Sarutobi noticed that some of his men's attitudes seemed to be changing in regards to Naruto. The occasional comment or stray piece of body language almost gave the impression of, dare he say … protectiveness?

Though whether that was because the men (and kunoichi of course, there was no sexism in Sarutobi's military) actually cared somewhat for the boy, or they viewed him as some form of ANBU property he couldn't be completely sure. He suspected there were a few on each side of the fence.

They even gave him a nick name, the Hekigan Shin, or 'Blued eyed ghost'.

He continued his search for another fifteen minutes, but fortunately for him he was wise enough to throw his lot on ramen. Sure enough when he got with shouting distance of the tiny stand there were two orange legs sticking down from behind the curtains. Kami those cloths were awful.

Naruto was enjoying the morning, old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were always nice to him and the food was absolutely top notch. This was really the best part of his day, _every day_. He was gratefully slurping up the delicious noodles when he felt someone sit down next to him and … stare. Without looking he felt his pulse quicken a little bit, not many people bothered him here but it wasn't unheard of.

"Oh, hello there Naruto, how have you been?" an oddly friendly voiced asked.

Naruto jerked his head toward the voice and was surprised to see the only other person in the world that was actually nice to him, "Old man!"

Naruto actually jumped off of his chair he was so excited and lunged at his lifelong guardian but at the second made an abrupt stop. They both stared at each other for an awkward moment before laughing just as uncomfortably. Naruto managed a blush and hopped back on his seat, "Uh, so anyway …"

Sarutobi turned and ordered a miso ramen, gracefully allowing Naruto regain his composure and pretend nothing happened. Secretly he wished the boy _would_ have given him a hug, at least that's what it looked like he was going to do. Ever since his three week stint on the street two years ago Naruto had displayed a pronounced aversion to physical contact of any kind. The counselors he spoke to on the subject confirmed his suspicions that such tendencies in a young child pointed to deep seated emotional trama, but beyond that they couldn't say without examining the boy themselves.

Naruto recovered from his embarrassment and gave the Hokage a big smile. "So what are you doing here? Our next lunch isn't supposed to be for another two weeks isn't it?"

"Well yes that's true Naurto, but today I came to talk to you about something very important, and it couldn't wait another two weeks."

"Really? What's so important about me?" Naruto asked.

Sarutobi winced at the wording. "Now I'll have none of that Naruto, you are a very important person. Not just to me but to the entire village."

Naruto plastered on a fake smile and turned his attention to his broth. He stirred it idly. "Must be your other village," he muttered.

Sarutobi wanted to pull his hair out, it just wasn't natural for an eight year to be so, morose! He'd better hurry up and spill the beans before the kid tried to commit seppuku. "Naruto, do you remember some time ago when I told you that you might make a fine ninja some day? Well what would you say if I told you that you have exactly that opportunity?" He allowed himself a smug looking grin and pulled his pipe out to start packing it with some fresh tobacco.

Naruto's demeanor changed instantly. He went from a sad little boy playing with his food to a wide eyed hopeful staring down the greatest dream his life in the blink of an eye. "S-so wait, you're saying that I'm gonna - that you can get me into the …"

Sarutobi struck a match and puffed gently on his pipe, eyeing the blond the whole while. "… the academy? Well now that you mention it I do happen to have a letter from them, and it's addressed to you. One can only imagine what it says." He produced the simple letter and handed it to the now frozen child.

Teuchi and Ayame had overheard and were both now equally statuesque, Naruto was almost like a member of the family to them and the thought that he might have a chance at a real future, a future that seemed up until two seconds ago a total impossibility was nothing short of a miracle. Sarutobi noted their reactions along with Naruto's and made a mental note to help these wonderful people out somehow.

Naruto's mind was racing, the Academy?! He knew all about the academy, everyone in Konoha did. The village hidden in the leaves may have housed all walks and creeds, but it _was_ a ninja village after all. You couldn't become a Konoha shinobi if you didn't start attending the academy by age nine. He was already eight, the standard entrance age. The envelope in his hands was quite possibly the most important thing he'd ever held in his hands and he could scarcely bring himself to open it.

The orphan Naruto Uzumaki could barely even show himself out in public, he could barely shop for food, he could barely go anywhere or do anything without being hassled, scorned, or attacked. Even though he was only eight, he had no illusions about what his life was going to be like. He could never grow up and find a job like a normal person, and once he became an adult and the village sponsored checks stopped coming in, he'd have nothing. Homeless and destitute.

But Naruto Uzumaki the ninja! This would change his life forever.

"Go on, open it," Sarutobi urged.

Naruto looked up at him with barely restrained angst, if this was some kind of joke … no, it couldn't be. The old man would never do that. He willed his hands to stop shaking and turned the letter over to carefully open it and removed the parchment from inside.

_Dear Naruto Uzumaki,_

_Congratulations! This letter has been sent to inform you that you have officially been accepted to begin attending classes this spring at Konohagakure no Sato's central shinobi academy. _

_Furthermore, it is our pleasure to inform you that you have been awarded this year's prestigious Will of Fire Scholarship. With this one of a kind opportunity your full tuition, books, and miscellaneous supplies will be provided to you free of charge._

_If you have any further questions please contact the registration office in building four …._

Naruto looked up with an expression of wonder, "You did this."

Sarutobi nodded and took another puff on his pipe, "You're damn right."

"Way to go Naruto!" Teuchi yelled and pumped his fist in the air in a most uncharacteristic display. Ayame squealed in delight and joined in with her father's celebrating.

"B-but I didn't do anything!" Naruto protested. Teuchi, Ayame, and Sarutobi all went still. "What if … someone else who was supposed to get this didn't because of me? You only gave this to me because you felt sorry for me didn't you?"

Naruto flipped the letter over in his hands a few times admiring it, oh Kami this was hard. "I'm sorry, I can't accept this. Please give this to someone who deserves it old man," he said, handing the letter back.

Teuchi and Ayame looked they were both going to cry. The Hokage made no move to take the offered notice, and then after a moment's silence he surprised everyone present by laughing out loud. Naruto looked incredulous, "What's the big idea old man? I feel bad enough as it is you don't have to laugh at me too!"

"I'm sorry Naruto," he chuckled. "But I'm laughing at you because you're such a fool!"

"What did you say?!" Teuchi and Ayame face faulted. Naruto looked like he was actually going to _throw_ his ramen.

Sarutobi shook his head, "Do you honestly think I would have awarded you this scholarship if I didn't know you would succeed? That I would deprive someone who was more worthy? I'm the Hokage Naruto, and everyone in this village is my adoptive family, not just you. I awarded you this honor because I honestly believe are the most worthy to receive it, and I'll have you know that I have very high expectations for you."

Teuchi and Ayame turned their heads simultaneously to Naruto. He looked like he'd just been punched in the gut. "Oh … I should have just kept my mouth shut huh?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But your motives are pure and only reinforce my decision, you are the best choice Naruto. You will go to the academy and you _will_ be a great shinobi."

Naruto blushed a little and put his hand up behind his head, "Thanks old man."

"Don't mention it." The two turned back to their meals and made idle chit chat with each other and Teuchi and Ayame for the next two hours. It was one of the best lunches he'd had in quite some time.

* * *

The next two weeks were a bit of a whirlwind for Naruto, what with getting ready for the academy and all. The first order of business was actually just showing up at building four and signing up for his classes.

This was his third try.

Naruto was so embarrassed about how much the old man Hokage had helped him that he couldn't bring himself to ask for even more help after the academy office staff ran him out the first time. The second time he tried wearing a disguise which worked great right up until the nice lady at the front desk asked him for his name.

Probably should have thought that one through a little better.

The day before registrations were due found one Naruto Uzumaki hiding behind a tree just outside the academy grounds desperately racking his brains for a solution to his problem without bothering the old man. He kicked a rock and groaned, it was hopeless! He couldn't sign up without telling them who he was for crying out loud!

He put his hand to his chin in a pose of deep thought and started pacing around. Maybe if he beat himself up they'd take pity? No. People beat his ass all the time just for fun, they'd never go for it. Hell, they'd probably take an extra swing just because he was still standing. A bribe? You need money for that.

'_I could always tell them that I'll be angry if they don't sign me up and I'll breath fire on them and their families! Nah, nobody would believe something stupid like that._' This was bad, he was running out of time.

* * *

"Damn that Minato," he muttered.

How in the hell his successor ever invented a totally undetectable privy seal capable of blocking the Shodiame's famous crystal ball of seeing he'd never know. Why in the hell he chose to hide several in and around the hot springs he'd _never_ _understand_. "I can't believe I took this stupid job back."

Sighing he turned the artifact's gaze to another section of the village, same old, same old. He was about to put the thing away when a speck of blond hair caught his attention. "Oh? And what are you doing hiding out behind the academy eh Naruto?"

Then he saw it, Naruto was still clutching his acceptance letter in his right hand. Of course the question was why hadn't he turned it in yet, was he nervous? Not likely. Naruto might be wary of strange people and situations and for good reason, but he wasn't exactly shy either. Too many times through the fire already for such trivial things to stop him. '_Far too many…_'

"Lynx!"

A moment later a masked woman appeared behind him bowing respectfully. She was relatively new but very talented, and she was one of the ANBU whom actually didn't seem to hate Naruto. Probably because she was one of the _very_ few who still a perfect record tracking him, or because she could relate in a way the others couldn't.

"Naruto Uzumaki is currently standing outside the academy campus. Today is the last day for registration, you are to ensure he's signed up and properly equipped for the start of the new term."

"Hai."

"Dismissed." In a flash, she was gone. It wasn't a normal assignment for an ANBU, they were elite shinobi after all. Yet she didn't protest or display any outward signs up negativity. Interesting.

* * *

Naruto was still pacing back and forth when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he froze. Someone was watching him. He whipped around to see nothing but empty space. Then he felt something tap lightly on his shoulder …

"Argh!" Naruto jumped three feet into the air and twisted wildly. He came down hard on his back and nearly got the wind knocked out of him. Groaning he looked up to see a painted mask looking down at him.

It was one of them.

Naruto had very mixed feelings about the guys in the masks. Some of them were actually nice from time to time, and some of them were anything but. But they sure did like to follow him all over the damn place. His best guess was it had something to do with old man Hokage since the first time he remembered talking to one was "Cain", the one with the mask painted like a dog. Cain was pretty cool, but he hadn't seen that one in a long time. This one looked more like a cat of some kind, and … a girl?

"What do you want?" he asked a bit irritably. Naruto looked like an old man trying to straighten himself back out. She didn't respond, she just kept staring. At least he thought she was staring, with those stupid masks you could never tell. Maybe she was sticking her tongue out or something. "What?"

"Did you sense me?" she asked in that odd voice. It was almost monotone. All the masked ones did that, it was kinda creepy.

"Well I thought there was someone behind me, but I turned around and there was nothing," he said with a frown. "But then you were behind me after that, so I don't really know what happened. How did you do that anyway?"

"What do you think happened?" she asked.

Naruto returned to his hand on chin thinking pose, he remained this way for nearly a minute. "I think you were in front of me the whole time," he said suddenly.

Lynx paused, that was _not_ the answer she'd been expecting. "Oh? Explain."

"I only turned around because I felt like someone was watching me and I couldn't see anyone in front of me. But if you _were_ behind me than you would have be awfully fast to get all the way around me in the time it took for me to turn back around after that. You're a ninja, I'm not saying that you couldn't do it, just that it would be pain. Plus I'd expect that kind of movement to disturb some leaves or dirt or something. And I didn't see that. No, I bet you got into position when I was pacing and you were actually in front of me somehow when I felt something. Then you revealed yourself after I turned around."

Lynx allowed herself a grin behind her mask, that was an almost perfect description of what she'd done with the help of a very minor genjutsu. She just wasn't about to let him know that. "But how could I have been hidden from your view while I was in front of you?"

Naruto's grin nearly split his face, "Easy! I do it all the time. You just have to be good at blending in and other people will look right past you." Naruto looked around like he was trying to make sure no one was listening. "Hey, you want to know the secret?"

To her credit Lynx didn't giggle, she just leaned down a little and kept her voice flat. "Yes."

"Sometimes the best way to disappear is in plain sight, you just have to look like you _belong_ there, and people won't notice a thing," he whispered.

She regarded him silently for a moment. "Perhaps the Hokage is right."

"Huh?"

"Perhaps you will make a fine shinobi someday."

Naruto did a bit of a double take at that before he looked at the ground. "Yeah right, I wish."

Lynx's head cocked to the side, "Do you not agree?"

Naruto fisted up his acceptance letter and thrust it out. "I can't even turn in my papers! Every time I go in there they throw me out."

Ah, so that was the problem. She had to admit it was sort of an odd thing, training this one to become a shinobi. But if the Hokage thought it was safe then why not? What was the worst that could happen, the fox could be unleashed and they'd all die in a fiery maelstrom?

Oh, Right. Demon fox.

Well, at least it would be an interesting way to die. "Come with me."

Lynx walked off toward the administration building with Naruto following close behind, a look of worry mixed with hope on his face. When they entered it took all of two seconds for the woman at the front desk to recognize him.

"Get out of here you, don't make me call security again!" she warned.

Naruto blanched but didn't say anything, instead he looked up at Lynx. The woman behind the desk seemed to just now realize her presence. "He is here to sign up for classes," Lynx responded dully.

This caught her off guard, she didn't exactly want to argue with an ANBU after all, they scared the crap out of her. But this was the demon child they were talking about here, perhaps the other woman didn't understand. "Do you have any idea just who that _child_ is?"

"Yes."

"Then you can understand perfectly well why we cannot allow that thing to attend classes like it was some sort of … little boy!"

Naruto ground his teeth together in frustration, he hated people like her. "Hey lady, I'm standing right here! Do you mind?"

"How dare you speak to me that way!" she shouted. "You watch your mouth you little dem -"

"- Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't want you to say anything you'll … regret, in front of me," Lynx interjected coolly. The woman noticeably paled and Naruto wondered what that was all about. "Now then, Hokage-sama has ordered me to see that this boy is properly signed up for classes, and I always complete my missions. Do you understand?"

The woman nodded silently.

"Excellent, lets hurry up and get this done. We have other places to be." Lynx felt a tug on her arm and looked down at Naruto.

"We do?"

* * *

Lynx and Naruto stood outside a very plain brown storefront on the edge of the commercial district. At least Naruto thought it was a storefront, it had a simple door sitting in between two bay windows that looked like they were for staging merchandise. But other than that there was nothing he could see that indicated what the place was for at all. The window displays were empty, and there wasn't so much as a paper sign out front. At least it looked like it was clean.

"Naruto, I could have taken you to any supplier in the village and forced him or her to sell you their wares. But I doubt you'll always have an escort with you to make purchases in the future, so I've brought you here," Lynx explained in her smooth voice.

Naruto gave her a questioning look. "How did you know?"

"About your troubles acquiring goods?" she asked. He nodded. "This is not the first time I've been assigned to you, though before it was only to keep watch on you."

He figured as much. They didn't always follow him around, at least he didn't think so, but he knew he was followed a lot. It wasn't until he after he moved into his apartment that he'd noticed them for the first time. He tried to ditch the masked watchers whenever possible, he didn't like the idea of hidden eyes following his every move.

There actually was an upside, _sometimes_ one of them would come to his rescue when the villagers were beating the crap out of him. And ditching them was a hell of a fun game when he was in the mood. But this was really only the second time any of them had actually spoken to him before, and a few things were digging at his conscious.

"What are you guys anyway?"

Lynx considered that for a moment, it wouldn't hurt if he knew. "We are the ANBU, we are a special group of elite shinobi that report directly to the Hokage."

"And do you guys watch me all the time?"

Lynx turned toward the shop. "That's enough questions, come with me."

"Yeah but - you guys don't watch me in the shower do you?" he almost whispered.

She froze, he did not just fucking ask that.

She turned to face him again and was surprised to find his crystal blue eyes shining with honesty, he was seriously concerned. Wait … _Crystal Blue_? Oh Lord what was wrong with her? This kid was already starting to get under her skin and she didn't like it one bit.

"Yes," she answered simply. All the color drained from Naruto's face. That would teach him. Or ruin his teenage years.

They entered the shop with Naruto looking like he wanted to die, but one look at the inside of the shop and he forgot all about it. There was ninja stuff piled everywhere! Cloths, armor, weapons, you name it, and it was there.

There were no neat racks or shelves in this place, just piles and piles of barely folded pants, shirts, and miscellaneous clothing. The far side of the store was full of tables that had the weapons and armor laid out on them in an almost haphazard fashion. The walls themselves were a total mish mash of whatever they could hold, and you could barely see the surface of it at all. The front windows were basically blocked out by merchandise, leaving the store a bit on the dark side. There wasn't much room to walk through the crowded aisles(if you could call them that), and you had to turn sideways if you didn't want to be touching the something with your arms as you walked.

They pushed through the front of the shop until they found the owner sitting on a stool and hand sharpening a wicked looking sword. It was almost four feet long and gently curved to a graceful tip, and the blade looked sharp enough to cut through solid rock. Why it still needed to be sharpened he had no idea.

When they finally came to a stop in front of the man he stopped what he was doing and took notice of his customers. He hand sandy brown hair and sharp black eyes that seemed to take in everything and give nothing. He was covered in more scars than Naruto had ever seen, the kinds of scars one earns after years and years weapons training. The most distinctive scar was a long jagged one that ran from in between his eyes diagonally all the way down to his neck. It gave the man a _very_ intimidating air.

He barely gave Lynx a second glance, but his gaze settled on Naruto and stayed there. Standing up, he took a step closer. "Well now, what do we have here?"

"He's a mission," Lynx replied.

That gave the man a start and he eyed Lynx warily. "Yeah, so what did'ja bring him in here for? I just cleaned the place up."

"It's not that kind of mission. Naruto, meet Ryota."

Ryota turned and took another step forward, giving Naruto another once over before grunting. "Hello … Ryota-san." Naruto didn't treat many people with respect, but he decided to make an exception just this once.

Ryota scowled and turned back to Lynx. "So what did you bring him here for?"

"He is starting in the academy in two days, and he needs supplies."

"So what? Does this look like a damn kiddy store to you?" he growled. "I wouldn't even carry anything sized for him anyway. It'd all be special ordered."

Lynx nodded, "I know. But no other vendor will deal with him, they seem to take … issue with his presence."

Ryota nodded knowingly and got right into Naruto's face. Naruto tried to lean back against the unexpected intrusion on his personal space but bumped up against a stack of blue pants. "Do ya know what kind of store this is boy?"

"Uh … there was no sign out front or anything sir. But it looks like a ninja store," he replied.

Ryota shook his head, "Not a chance, this is a place for killers," he whispered menacingly. Naruto's eyes opened wide and he believed every word. "I don't advertise because I don't have to. The regular nins don't ever come in here, snide little fuckers. No, the only people who come in here are the ANBU, the hunters, and a few personal friends of mine. And do you want to know why?"

Naruto nodded even though he decided he most definitely did _not_ want to know. It just seemed safer to nod.

Ryota smiled, "Because most of them are more concerned with how they look in this year's newest vest, and where they can find some shiny dragon hilt guard for their nin-to. Well I don't sell that shit here, because there ain't no better guard than smooth, low smelt steel, if you like having two hands that is. And the best vest ever made is the COV-4. The new ones are full of thin spots that'll get ya killed and they use these crappy synthetic plates that most summons can smell a mile away. The nin who shop here make their livings killing the ones who don't. Do you understand?"

Naruto blinked in the affirmative.

Ryota looked down at Naruto's clothing. "So explain to me little kid, why I would bother going out of my way to buy supplies for a ninja who wears bright fuckin orange?"

The insult finally snapped Naruto out of his fear induced stupor and he slowly straightened up into a firm stance. He didn't mind what people thought of his cloths, but this guy could go screw himself if he thought that he suddenly knew who he was because of how he dressed!

He gave Ryota what he hoped was his best glare, "I don't exactly have a lot of money, and the cloths were free. They're warm and they don't have holes in em so I don't care what damn color they are."

A moment of silence passed while Ryota considered him. '_He's not even in the academy yet and he's actually glaring at me. Most adults won't even hold my gaze when I try to intimidate them, not bad. So this is the demon child eh? Shorter than I expected._'

Lynx was getting antsy, this wasn't going over as well as she had hoped. "Perhaps this was a bad idea -"

"It's fine," Ryota cut her off. "I'll deal with the kid. You said you don't have much money, how do you intend to pay?"

Naruto was so surprised that Ryota was going to sell to him that he nearly forgot to answer. "Oh! Uh, I have these vouchers, from my scholarship."

Ryota turned to glare at Lynx, "Vouchers?"

She shrugged.

"You at least know what the hell he needs right? You never know what those jackass's at the academy tell em to get," he said.

Naruto offered up a list he got from the registration office. Ryota took one look at it and sputtered, "What the fuck is this shit! Dummy kunai? And they want Hatsuhin brand? I wouldn't peddle that trash if you put a _real_ knife to my throat! No wonder the genin are so damn pathetic these days."

Lynx watched her old friend piss and moan over the academy list with a hidden smile beneath her mask. Of course the academy only specified the cheapest goods, many non-shinobi families wouldn't be able to afford better and it was just for a bunch of kids anyway. Ryota was also well aware that many families supplied their children with better, hell it was practically expected from those with wealth or lineage. He just liked to bitch about other people's gear.

The man was a fanatic, but he was a fair fanatic and he'd probably sell to the kid at a loss just to make sure those meager vouchers Naruto had would be enough. It looked like the Hekigan Shin owed her one big time. "I need to get back, I assume you two are good?" she asked.

"Yeah, get out of here," Ryota nodded. Naruto wasn't exactly sure about that but before he could speak up she was gone. He sure as hell wasn't afraid of Ryota, but he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to be here alone either.

"All right kid, here's the deal. I'm not gonna sell you any of the shit on this list."

"WHAT?! B-But you just said -" Naruto sputtered.

"Shut up! I'm gonna sell you what you need, just not the crap they specified. I'm gonna get you something worth buying alright? I'll dull em up for you so as you don't go killing yourself, but you're not walking out of my shop with trash. Understand?" he asked gruffly.

"Yeah," Naruto said defensively. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"Good, now come here. I need to measure your hand," he said, and grabbed Naruto's arm. As soon as he realized that Ryota had grabbed him Naruto yanked back as hard as he could and nearly took them both to the floor. Ryota let go at the last second but Naruto spilled into a pile shirts.

"What's your fuckin problem kid?!" he yelled.

Naruto jumped to his feet and started picking up some of the cloths as fast as he could. Ryota watched him work with a scowl. A few seconds later he was finished and stood straight up to glare at Ryota, the older man was surprised to see look he didn't the first time the kid glared. This one would actually back you off, hell, even he wanted to take a step back, the kids face was full of real pain … and anger. "People don't touch me."

Ryota looked at the little blond for a moment with an expression that Naruto couldn't place. "Fair enough."

Ryota gestured for Naruto to follow him to the back of the store for the measurement. A few minutes later the blond said his thanks and walked out of the shop, leaving Ryota to his thoughts. There was no doubt in his mind that this kid was going to make things very interesting in the years to come. But was it going to be the good kind of interesting or the bad?

The sound of a door opening in the back broke him out of his reverie. "Is that you sweetie?" he called out.

"Yeah it's me. Anything interesting going on?"

"Nothing much, you mind watching the front for a sec while I go place a special order?"

"A special order huh? Who's it for?"

"New customer, you wouldn't know him."

"Awww, and I missed him? Was he interesting?"

Ryota chuckled, "Just watch the counter would ya? It doesn't pay to be nosey with our customer base." He was rewarded with an exaggerated pout.

* * *

**Authors Notes:** So much for my supposed sneakiness! Most of you already figured out the little girl :)

**Ryota** means _Stout_ or _Strong_.


End file.
